Radio module as web-controllable remote sensor

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides for network control of a radio module having a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports capable of communication with one or more sensing devices across a network, where the radio module may be controlled remotely to obtain information from one or more networked remote sensing devices.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to communications networks, andmore particularly to providing remote monitoring and control capabilityfor embedded input/output (I/O) across one or more communicationsnetworks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Communications devices are used throughout most of the world and areoften designed and developed to operate with at least one, if not morethan one, communications network. Each communications device is uniquelyidentified within a network and is often uniquely identified within thenetwork, thereby enabling a communications source device to contact thereceiving device through connection points across the network.Similarly, each communications device is tracked on a network for itsuse of bandwidth in operation on one or more networks.

These communications devices are often in the form of a cellular-baseddevices, (e.g., phones, smartphones, etc.), sensor-based devices(watering systems, parking meters, alarm indicators, etc.), or otherdata intensive devices capable of communicating on a network. Stillother devices may include one-way communicating equipment, such asmedical emergency or alarm-based equipment that contacts a receivingdevice or system across a network. The use of the term communicationsdevice or “device” herein is not intended to be limited to examples setforth, but rather incorporates and includes any device capable ofcommunicating on, with, and/or across a communications network, wired orwireless, and thereby uses network resources of bandwidth to upload,download, transmit, receive, or transceive data. Examples of devices mayinclude: laptops with 3G or WIFI capability; smartphones with 3G, 4G orCDMA/GSM; alarm systems across a publicly switched telephone network(PSTN) line; texting equipment; a machine-to-machine (M2M) environment;and similar.

In many applications, a communications device may not be physicallyconnected with a communications network and may be able to connect withmultiple communications networks owned by different entities. Trackingthe use of a particular device on various networks is an importantactivity as the use of a network's bandwidth is typically the primarysource of monetization for operators of a network.

FIG. 1 depicts a basic M2M communication network 100 having typicalsensor-type devices 120, 130 and 140. Cell phones at 145 and 155 arealso provided. In FIG. 1, the M2M network 100 has a centralcommunication gateway 110 in which communications from devices 120, 130,140, and 145 are linked with a service provider network 150. The linkagemay be wired or wireless, and is depicted as the security camera 120 andthe water alarm sensor 130 are in wireless communication with thegateway 110. Similarly, the traffic camera sensor 140 is in wiredcommunication with the gateway, though one will appreciate that thereare many variations to the type and protocol of communication forFIG. 1. As one can appreciate, there may be many variations and types ofdevices included for a M2M communication network andcommunication-capable devices thereon.

From FIG. 1, data sensed and obtained by the devices is transmittedacross the M2M network to the service provider network 150 where thedata may be shared as raw data or converted to information, often thoughsoftware applications. Notification equipment 160 wirelessly receivesthe data from the service provider network 150, as may the cell phone155, and acts in accordance with the received data for the specificevent. For instance where the notification equipment is an alert systemto send a text to a building owner in the event of a water leak, and thewater sensor has sent data indicating a water leak, the notificationequipment will then trigger an event to notify the building owner.

Similarly, from FIG. 1, where the user 170 receives a suite of rollinghistorical data as to traffic camera operation cycles, the user may thenact accordingly based on the received cumulative information. Thetransmission and receipt of data across the network from varied devicescan be tracked on a per device basis, a per grouping of device basis,and across the network. The usage of data by a device is often thenbilled to a device-owning consumer (or user) based on a consumption rateplan that provides for a certain amount of time and/or use of data by adevice owned by the user.

In certain M2M applications, particularly those in the telemetry space,to monitor and control a remote device usually requires a number ofcomponents to be present, including: (1) a central processing unit (CPU)to run the remote application and control the radio module associatedwith the device; (2) non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) to storethe operating system, application code and data; (3) I/O interfaces; and(4) a Radio Module for remote access.

Further to the description above, FIG. 2 sets forth a typical M2Mtelemetry device design 200 for monitoring and controlling a remotedevice.

From FIG. 2, components for a typical M2M telemetry device design usedfor controlling a remote device, such as remote sensor devices, are setforth at 202. Within 202 are included a radio module 205, a CPU 210, aNVRAM 215, a Parallel Identifier (PID) 220, an Analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) 225, and a Digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 230. TheCPU is generally central to the communication pathways of the componentsof the controlling device of 202. Remote devices being sensors 240, 250and 260 are available for communications with the controlling device202, where control information is passed from the controlling device 202to the remote sensors to instruct what information or monitoring issought. Examples of sensors are set forth in FIG. 2 as an external relay240, an analog sensor 250, and a variable analog control 260, though onewill appreciate there may be many variations and types used with thepresent invention.

However, each of these component requirements for the controllingdevice, in addition to those involving low-level application coderequirements, add cost and complexity to the device and often may createcertain product development delays associated with the complexities ofthe device design. Further, the development of low level applicationcode is often quite complex, time consuming and expensive, and ingenerally is often a main cause of product development delays for suchdevice designs.

Further to the above, FIG. 3 sets forth a M2M telemetry device designusing I/O enabled modules 300.

From FIG. 3, a radio module 305 is in communication with a CPU 310 andNVRAM 315, as well as with remote sensors 340, 350 and 360. The radiomodule is I/O enabled having input/output communications with thesensors, reducing the need for ADC, DAC and PID to be communicationintermediaries with the remote sensors as shown in FIG. 2. A radiomodule, such as that of 305, may provide direct I/O capabilitiesincluding: General Purpose Digital I/O (GPIO), ADC, DAC and voltageoutput controls (VOC), for instance.

Unfortunately, from FIG. 3, even where developers may be able to realizea design advantage, there is often an economic disincentive for thisapproach as though hardware costs and board design simplification mayoccur; these capabilities often require expensive components, such asthe CPU, NVRAM and the operating system, to be present on the device.For instance, though the radio module is I/O enabled, the presence ofadditional components such as CPU, NVRAM and operating system is stillnecessary locally. Also, often a radio module and CPU are underpoweredto adequately perform in this environment. Additionally, the developmenttime associated with such an approach may still be very long anddifficult. Further, design errors are known to arise, particularlywhere, in an effort to reduce development costs, the failure to includecritical capabilities such as remote firmware updates may occur.

Additionally, web-based uniform resource indicators (URIs) are oftenused to identify resources associated with a network, such as devices.URIs can include locators (URLs), names (URNs), etc., where typicallythe URI provides information to define an identity of or method forlocating the resource. However, web-based hyper text transfer protocol(HTTP) URIs can often be cumbersome though they may often be convenientfor human consumption. These URIs are often lengthy and complex in formand need to be transmitted accurately, in their entirety, forappropriate operations.

For example, a URI may take the form of: “/1751234567/GPIO/1” which isdescriptive to a web browser (also used herein as a “fully descriptiveURI”). The fully descriptive URI format associates the 1751234567 with amodule ID that is globally unique to the radio module; it associates theGPIO with a general purpose I/O type ID for a port, although there maybe multiple types of I/O ports present; and it associates the 1 with aport ID that is unique within the I/O port type identified. Often, thesedetails are populated by the radio module manufacturer.

Therefore, what is needed is a cost-effective and lesser-intensivecomponent content approach which will allow monitoring and control ofremote devices using a radio module's built-in I/O capabilities, whileeliminating the requirement for firmware application development andexpensive component requirements to be locally present, such as a CPU orNVRAM, for instance. What is also needed is an improved method ofproviding a less cumbersome approach of relevant information typicallyassociated with a fully descriptive URI. It is therefore desired toprovide such an approach as that above which further enables developersto realize a reduction in hardware costs, an elimination of license feesand a simplified software development process by providing for networkcontrol of a radio module.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention fulfills these needs and has been developed inresponse to the present state of the art, and in particular, in responseto the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solvedby currently available technologies.

The present invention provides an approach for radio modules havingenhanced I/O capabilities which are able to control and monitor one ormore remote devices, without the need for the presence of CPU, NVRAM,real-time operating system (RTOS), firmware development, and remotefirmware updated update capability. In so doing, the present inventionprovides developers the ability to realize significant reductions inbuild cost and development time.

One embodiment of the present invention includes a method of providingnetwork control of a radio module having a plurality of input/output(I/O) ports capable of communication with one or more sensing devicesacross a network, and having a network controlling mechanism incommunication with the radio module. In one or more preferredembodiments, the methods includes identifying a uniform resourceindicator (URI) for each of the one or more sensing devices on thenetwork; predetermining a physical mapping of each identified URI withone of the plurality of I/O ports of the radio module; and,communicating at least one command from the radio module to at least oneof the one or more sensing devices via the physical mapping over apredetermined protocol across the network. Optionally, the method alsoprovides for receiving a response from the at least one of the one ormore sensing devices in relation to the communicated at least onecommand, where the response may be received via a web browser, forinstance.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a computer programproduct stored on a computer usable medium, comprising: computerreadable program means for causing a computer to control an execution ofan application to perform a method for providing network control of aradio module having a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports capable ofcommunication with one or more sensing devices across a network, andhaving a network controlling mechanism in communication with the radiomodule. Preferably, the product provides for: identifying a uniformresource indicator (URI) for each of the one or more sensing devices onthe network; predetermining a physical mapping of each identified URIwith one of the plurality of I/O ports of the radio module;communicating at least one command from the radio module to at least oneof the one or more sensing devices via the physical mapping over apredetermined protocol across the network; and, receiving a responsefrom the at least one of the one or more sensing devices in relation tothe communicated at least one command.

A further embodiment of the present invention provides a telemetrydevice having a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports capable ofcommunication with one or more sensing devices across a network, andhaving a network controlling mechanism in communication with the radiomodule. Preferably, the device includes processing means to identify auniform resource indicator (URI) for each of the one or more sensingdevices on the network; predetermine a physical mapping of eachidentified URI with one of the plurality of I/O ports of the radiomodule; and, communicate at least one command from the radio module toat least one of the one or more sensing devices via the physical mappingover a predetermined protocol across the network.

A further embodiment provides for receiving a request having a fullydescriptive URI addressed to a radio module, mapping the module ID ofthe request to a network ID and uniquely identifying a communicationsnetwork through a relational association. In a preferred embodiment, aradio module manufacture predefines an encoding association for the I/Otype ID and the port ID portions of the fully descriptive URI enabling arelational association of a fully descriptive I/O type ID and port ID tobe substituted with a reduced I/O type ID and port ID description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a basic M2M communication network having typicalsensor-type devices;

FIG. 2 sets forth a typical M2M telemetry device design for monitoringand controlling a remote device;

FIG. 3 sets forth a M2M telemetry device design using I/O enabledmodules;

FIG. 4 sets forth a flowchart of communication as between the radiomodule and connected devices on the network for the present invention inaccordance with one or more preferred embodiments;

FIG. 5 sets forth a flowchart of the present invention in accordancewith one embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts an operational communication flow 600 in accordance withone or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7 depicts message traffic as between the web application and theradio module in one or more embodiments of the present invention; and,

FIG. 8 sets forth an example of an implementation of the presentinvention in which I/O and port IDs of a fully descriptive URI aresubstituted for reduced ID descriptions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates generally to a process for providingnetwork control of a radio module having a plurality of input/output(I/O) ports capable of communication with one or more sensing devicesacross a network, and having a network controlling mechanism incommunication with the radio module.

The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skillin the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the contextof a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications tothe preferred embodiment and the generic principles and featuresdescribed herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to theembodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent withthe principles and features described herein.

Advantageously, the present invention provides a user the ability torapidly implement M2M solutions at a lower build cost with lessdevelopment effort when using the invention. The present invention alsoprovide numerous benefits to the module manufacturer such as byassisting them in achieving better economics for their radio modules asusers will recognize a reduction in costs for other related hardware anddevelopment areas.

In one or more preferred embodiments, the present invention provides fora method of providing network control of a radio module having aplurality of input/output (I/O) ports capable of communication with oneor more sensing devices across a network. Preferably the radio modulefurther includes a network controlling mechanism in communication withthe radio module, such as software, a processor, controller, or similar.FIG. 4 sets forth a flowchart of communication 400 as between the radiomodule and connected devices on the network for the present invention inaccordance with one or more preferred embodiments.

From FIG. 4, a radio module of the present invention 405 having anetwork controlling mechanism and having a plurality of I/O ports is incommunication with remote sensors 440, 450 and 460. The radio module ofthe present invention has a uniform resource indicator (URI) identifiedfor each of the one or more sensing devices associated with the radiomodule on the network. Preferably, a predetermined physical mapping ofeach identified URI is associated with one of the plurality of I/O portsof the radio module, hence such that each device is associated with aphysical I/O pin. Once a mapping is determined, communications as fromthe radio module to the sensing device may occur, where a remote networkcommand, such as through a web browser, is set forth.

For instance, for one or more embodiments of the present invention,where at least one command is provided from the radio module to at leastone of the one or more sensing devices via the physical mapping over thepredetermined protocol across the network, the remote device may besummoned to provide information. Information of the remote device mayinclude measured information, typically of a unit of a measure (e.g.,temperature, pressure, on/off, etc.). The information of the networkeddevice is returned to the radio module across the respective I/O pinassociated with the device, and the received information is preferablycommunicated to a web portal or browser. Such an approach isadvantageous as typically radio module CPUs are too underpowered toaccommodate demands involving commands, controlling and monitoring.Rather the present invention provides an approach for controlling andmonitoring the remote device using a radio module via a network controlof the radio module.

FIG. 5 sets forth a flowchart 500 of the present invention in accordancewith one embodiment. From FIG. 5, the method begins at 510 and a uniformresource indicator (URI) is identified for each of the one or moresensing devices on the network at 520. At 530, a predetermined physicalmapping of each identified URI with one of the plurality of I/O ports ofthe radio module is set forth. At 540, at least one command from theradio module is communicated to at least one of the one or more sensingdevices via the physical mapping over a predetermined protocol acrossthe network, such as HTTP. At 550, a response from the at least one ofthe one or more sensing devices is received in relation to thecommunicated at least one command. At 560, the response of informationis provided and/or displayed via a web browser. The information providedis typically of a unit of measure associated with the remote device.

FIG. 6 depicts an operational communication flow 600 in accordance withone or more embodiments of the present invention. From FIG. 6, remotedevices are displayed at 610, 620 and 630. Remote device 610 is depictedas a pump. Remote device 620 is depicted as a flow meter. Remote device630 is depicted as a moisture meter. At 640 is a radio module (also usedherein as a telemetry device) having a network controlling mechanism aswell as a plurality of input/output (I/O) pins, of the presentinvention. The radio module depicted at 640 is able to communicate withthe remote devices through the I/O pins when commanded remotely, by aweb browser, web-enabled application or other remote command.

At 660, a control application is set forth which provides for commandsand controlling of the radio module 640 to undertake the requesting,receiving, transmitting, transceiving of data and information from oneor more remote devices. Since the control application 660 is remote fromthe radio module 640, communications as between the two would occuracross a network such as 650. Commands across the network would be thosewhich may provide control and monitor types of commands from the controlapplication to the radio module, for instance.

In operation, the radio module of the present invention in one or moreembodiments may further include an embedded constrained applicationprotocol (CoAP) stack. Where an embedded CoAP is provided, a fixed URIbinding for each I/O interface (i.e., pin) may also be provided suchthat the radio module is able to interpret each URI as a data URI foreach of the identified remote devices. In effect, the radio module ofthe present invention provides for a CoAP capable sensor. By example,“/1/1” is to request reading from GPIO port 1. The present inventionalso provides for a HTTP-to-CoAP proxy residing in the network such thatconnecting CoAP-capable M2M devices to web applications is possibleusing the present invention. In the depiction of FIG. 6, the network 650provides for a HTTP-to-CoAP proxy, for example.

FIG. 7 depicts message traffic 700 as between the web application andthe radio module in one or more embodiments of the present invention.From FIG. 7, at 710, the radio module is provided. At 715, a networkhaving a HTTP-CoAP proxy is provided. At 720, a web client is provided.A command is sent from the web application remotely to control the radiomodule at 790, in the example seeking to get temperature informationfrom a temperature measuring remote device. At 792, the remote commandis translated through the proxy and the radio module is commanded toseek information across the respective physical I/O of the sought device(in this case, by example, pin 1). At 794, the data is obtained from theremote device and is returned to the radio module across the respectivepin and then to the network, which was mapped in accordance with the URIor uniform resource locator (URL) of the respective device. The networkprovides the data of the device to the web application or web browser at796, in this example being a temperature reading of 78 degrees. In thismanner, the radio module is controlled across the network by the webapplication, where a physical mapping of the URI/URL of the device andthe physical I/O is predetermined.

FIG. 8 sets forth an example of an implementation 800 of the presentinvention in which I/O and port IDs of a fully descriptive URI aresubstituted for reduced ID descriptions. From FIG. 8, a fullydescriptive URI is set forth at 810. The URI has the form“/1751234567/GPIO/1” in which the URI format associates the 1751234567with a module ID (820) that is globally unique to the radio module; theGPIO is associated with a general purpose I/O type ID for a port (830);and the 1 is associated with a port ID that is unique within the I/Oport type identified (840). Typically, these details may be predefinedby the radio module manufacturer.

Using a mapping association 850 of the present invention, the fullydescriptive URI can be substituted to a reduced URI which is lesscomplex and intensive. For example, integers may be substituted usingthe mapping association to define input/output types on the radiomodule. In such a manner, the I/O type ID and port ID portions of thefully descriptive URI of “GPIO/1” may be mapped to be “1/1” (860/870).The mapping association 850 may include a look-up table, a conversion orassociation means, software having predetermined mapping and/orassociated substitute identities, or other methods and approaches, forinstance. Optionally, a radio module manufacture or other may alsopredefined or encode equivalent substitutes for the fully descriptiveURI format portions, such that a look-up association or substitutionequivalence is provided where reference can readily be made to import,amend or substitute a shorter or other referential equivalent to the URIportion affected.

Preferably, using the present invention, a web application can performfollowing operations to discover I/O ports' URIs and retrieve data fromthem using a variety of methods including any of those below (where theHTTP header “content-type” is used to indicate data encoding of the portdata):

HTTP Action URI Operation GET /module_id Retrieve all I/O typeidentifiers on a module with the module_id. GET /module_id/io_type_idRetrieve all I/O ports identifiers defined for the I/O type on a module.GET /module_id/io_type_id/ Retrieve data from the port_id given port

Advantageously, using the present invention, once a substitution hasbeen made for at least a portion of the fully descriptive URI, areceiving of a request of the fully descriptive URI via web applicationcan associate a substitute or reduced value for the pertinent URIportion using a mapping association and shorten the URI to thepredetermined or planned substitute equivalence. Thereafter, thereceiver of the original URI can then transmit a shortened orsubstituted URI to the radio module, preferably over the air. In thisapproach, using the present invention, a web application is able to usea fully descriptive URI which can then be mapped to a shortened URI in anetwork for efficient over-the-air transfer to the radio module.

Although the present invention has been described in accordance with theembodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readilyrecognize that there could be variations to the embodiments and thosevariations would be within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one ofordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Many other embodiments of the present invention arealso envisioned.

Any theory, mechanism of operation, proof, or finding stated herein ismeant to further enhance understanding of the present invention and isnot intended to make the present invention in any way dependent uponsuch theory, mechanism of operation, proof, or finding. It should beunderstood that while the use of the word preferable, preferably orpreferred in the description above indicates that the feature sodescribed may be more desirable, it nonetheless may not be necessary andembodiments lacking the same may be contemplated as within the scope ofthe invention, that scope being defined by the claims that follow.

As used herein the term M2M communication is understood to includemethods of utilizing various connected computing devices, servers,clusters of servers, wired and/or wirelessly, which provide a networkedinfrastructure to deliver computing, processing and storage capacity asservices where a user typically accesses applications through aconnected means such as but not limited to a web browser, terminal,mobile application (i.e., app) or similar while the primary software anddata are stored on servers or locations apart from the devices.

As used herein the terms device, appliance, terminal, remote device,wireless asset, etc. are intended to be inclusive, interchangeable,and/or synonymous with one another and other similar communication-basedequipment for purposes of the present invention though one willrecognize that functionally each may have unique characteristics,functions and/or operations which may be specific to its individualcapabilities and/or deployment.

Similarly, it is envisioned by the present invention that the termcommunications network includes communications across a network (such asthat of a M2M but not limited thereto) using one or more communicationarchitectures, methods, and networks, including but not limited to: Codedivision multiple access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM) (“GSM” is a trademark of the GSM Association), Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4G LTE,wireless local area network (WIFI), and one or more wired networks.

Advantageously, the present invention provides developers the ability torealize significant reductions in build cost and development time, asthe typical application based on the enhanced modules would no longerrequire any of the following: CPU; NVRAM; RTOS; Firmware development;and Remote firmware update capability. Further, the present inventionwill allow monitoring and control of the embedded module's built in I/Ocapabilities remotely via remote application protocol interface (APIs).

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing network control of a anInput/Output (I/O) enabled radio module having a plurality of I/O portscapable of communication with one or more sensing devices across anetwork, and having a network controlling mechanism in communicationwith the radio module, comprising: identifying a uniform resourceindicator (URI) for each of the one or more sensing devices on thenetwork; predetermining a physical mapping of each identified URI withone of the plurality of I/O ports of the radio module; communicating atleast one command from the radio module to at least one of the one ormore sensing devices via the physical mapping over a predeterminedprotocol across the network, wherein the at least one command isphysically mapped to a respective URI and a physical I/O pin;associating a mapping for reducing one or more identifiers of a fullydescriptive URI to one or more reduced identifiers for a reduced URI;and in response to receiving a fully descriptive URI, transmitting thereduced URI over air.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreceiving a response from the at least one of the one or more sensingdevices in relation to the communicated at least one command.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the received response is received by aweb-based application across the network or a user interface being a webapplication.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the web application is aweb browser.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the received responseincludes information of at least one of the one or more sensing devices.6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information includes a measurementof a unit of measure from the at least one of the one or more sensingdevices.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the unit of measure isdegrees for a sensing device that measures temperature and wherein theprotocol is HTTP.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the networkcontrolling mechanism is one of a processor, a controller, or software.9. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one command is a HTTPrequest.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the HTTP request is mappedto a respective URI and physical I/O pin.
 11. The method of claim 9,wherein the received response is received by the respective physical I/Opin and is communicated to a web browser.
 12. A computer program productstored on a non-transitory computer usable medium, comprising programfor causing a computer to control an execution of an application toperform a method for providing network control of a an Input/Output(I/O) enabled radio module having a plurality of I/O ports capable ofcommunication with one or more sensing devices across a network, andhaving a network controlling mechanism in communication with the radiomodule, the method comprising: identifying a uniform resource indicator(URI) for each of the one or more sensing devices on the network;predetermining a physical mapping of each identified URI with one of theplurality of I/O ports of the radio module; communicating at least onecommand from the radio module to at least one of the one or more sensingdevices via the physical mapping over a predetermined protocol acrossthe network, wherein the at least one command is physically mapped to arespective URI and a physical I/O pin; receiving a response from the atleast one of the one or more sensing devices in relation to thecommunicated at least one command; associating a mapping for reducingone or more identifiers of a fully descriptive URI to one or morereduced identifiers for a reduced URI; and in response to the receivedresponse including a fully descriptive URI, transmitting the reduced URIover air.
 13. The program product of claim 12, wherein the receivedresponse is received by a web-based application across the network. 14.The program product of claim 13, wherein the received response isreceived by a user interface being a web application or a web browser.15. The program product of claim 12, wherein the received responseincludes information of at least one of the one or more sensing devices.16. An Input/Output (I/O) enabled radio device comprising: a pluralityof input/output (I/O) ports capable of communication with one or moresensing devices across a network, and a network controlling mechanism,wherein the networking mechanism includes a processor configured to:identify a uniform resource indicator (URI) for each of the one or moresensing devices on the network; predetermine a physical mapping of eachidentified URI with one of the plurality of I/O ports; and, communicateat least one command to at least one of the one or more sensing devicesvia the physical mapping over a predetermined protocol across thenetwork, wherein the at least one command is physically mapped to arespective URI and a physical I/O pin; associate a mapping for reducingone or more identifiers of a fully descriptive URI to one or morereduced identifiers for a reduced URI; and in response to receiving afully descriptive URI, transmitting the reduced URI over air.
 17. Theradio module of claim 16, wherein the at least one command iscommunicated to a web browser.